”Politics” behind PIA protest: Prime Minister

WEB DESK: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday said the Essential Services Main-tenance Act was extended to the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to improve the performance of the national flag carrier. Talking to newsmen here, the Prime Minister said the strike in PIA had the backing of some political parties, which was causing a Rs 100 million loss per day.

“Politics is going on in PIA. And it is going on with the backing of some political parties. He asked: “Should we not check it and improve the situation?” The Prime Minister said the passengers face hardships due to poor service of PIA and the poor condition of its fleet. “Should we ignore it,” he questioned.

“It will not happen at all,” the Prime Minister remarked. He further said that the striking employees will face action, to be terminated from service and even will be facing one year imprisonment under the Essential Services Act. The Prime Minister said any concession to such elements in his view would be unfair for the country.

He, however, maintained that those employees, who were doing good job in PIA, and were not paying heed to the striking elements, would be rewarded. Referring to the statement of Opposition Leader Khursheed Shah, who described the government””s decision to extend Essential Services Act to PIA as a dictatorial decision, the Prime Minister said Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto had also extended this act to PIA in 1976.

To a question, he said, as the coal power was economical and it will help reduce the electricity tariff as well. The Prime Minister, while responding to a question about the planned agitations of opposition parties, said they were afraid that due to the government””s development projects and agenda, they would lose the political space.